Hair drying apparatus



March 15, 1949. .1.J. MURPHY HAIR DRYING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Apri19,.1946

INVENTOR. Joh/7 ./05@ h /l/af /7 BY f /D 9 ATTORNEYS March 15, 1949. l.1. J. MURPHY 'HAIR DRYING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1946 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR. J/r J /7 MJ b l 0;; as? l lr/0 :y

, AT RNEYS Patented Mar. 15, 1949 UNITED VSTATES OFFICE This invention relates to hair drying apparatus for Vuse in beauty parlors and like establishments Where womens hair is washed and curled and must be dried before the customer leaves the establishment. Y

-A hair drier usually has a hood which extends over the head of the person whose hair is being dried `and which is iixed in place on the drier body so that, although the drier body can be raised and lowered and pivoted in a vertical plane, the person whose hair is being dried must remain in a relatively stationary seated position during the-operation. The necessity for remaining seated rin a chair for as long a-s say fortyfive vminutes or more, is both annoying and uni comfortable. Because ofthe fact that the hood of the drier must extend well over the upper poru tion of Ithe head in order to dry the hair with Amaximum rapidity, the person undergoing the treatment must remain in an upright position so as `to permit circulation Aof the air around the head and to prevent displacement of the laboriously set curls or waves.

It is an object of thi-s invention to provide a hair drying apparatus which will permit the person whose hair is being -dried to rest in a reclining position instead of being required to sit upright.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hair drying apparatus which will gently7 but rmly, support the head of the person whose hair is being dried and yet will not disturb the set of the curl or waves in the hair.

These objectives are accomplished by the provision of a somewhat resilient cradle which supports the head in a position so that air can circulate around it and yet in such a manne-r that `the person whose hair is being dried may either sit up or recline as desired and may relax during the hair drying operation.

In the drawings:

Figure I is a view in elevation of hair drying apparatus embodying the instant invention, showing the device in use for drying the hair of a person in seated position.

Figure II is a view similar to Figure I, but showing the device in use for drying the hair of a person in reclining position.

Figure III is a greatly enlarged view partly in section, of the hair drying device embodying the invention.

Figure IV is a vertical, sectional view taken substantially on the line IV-IV of Figure III.

2 Claims. (Cl. 34-90l paratus embodying the instant invention is equipped.

Hair drying apparatus embodying the invention may comprise among other elements a housing I in which there is located a motor 2, a fan 3 and a heating element 4. These portions of the apparatus are substantially conventional in design and serve the purpose of heating and circulating the air within the ydrying apparatus.

The housing I is secured to an arm 5 which is mounted in a bifurcated bracket 6 by means of a pintle 'I. The arm 5 has a substantially diskshaped portion 8 in the periphery of which is cut a worm gear segment 9. The worm gear segment 9 is in mesh with a worm ID which vis pinned or otherwise iixed on a shaft I I extending transversely through the bracket 6. A hand wheel I2 is pinned on one end of the shaft II so that the worm I0 can be rotated thus, through the worm gear segment 9, swinging the arm 5 and housing I in a vertical plane.

The bracket 6 is mounted on the upper end of a telescoping post I3 which has a stand I4 at its lower end. The telescoping portions ofthe post I3 are vertically adjustable and horizontally swivelable.

A revoluble hood I5 which may have an eX- terior contour conforming to that of the contour of the housing I, is mounted on the forward end of the housing I. The hood I5 has a bias-cut front opening I 6 around the circular edge of which is located an annular cushioning flange I'I. The flange I'I is substantially U-shaped in cross section, the outermost arm of the U being secured at several places to the hood I5 by a plurality of screws I8. The screws I8 extend through holes I Il in the hood I5 and are threaded into the edge of an inner hood 20. The edge of the inner hood 2D extends between the arms of the U-shaped annular flange I"I thus leavingV a passage around the edge of the inner hood 20. The inner hood 2li is substantially cone-shaped and has a number of apertures 2| in its wall, and has a cylindrical inner end 22 on which are formed a series of radially extending ribs 23. A ilat annulus 24 is mounted on the inner edge of the end 22 by means of screws 25. The annulus 24 ts into a rim 26 which i-s formedv on the forward end of the heater element 4 and is held therein by a pair of semi-annular retainers 21 which are removably attached to the rim 25 by screws 28. The inside diameters of the end 22, annulus 24 and heater element 4 are substantially identical.

The rear end of the hood I5 extends into a 3 flange 29 which is formed on the forward end of the housing I.

Air is blown by the fan 3 in the directions indicated by the arrows in Figure III into the space between the outer hood I and inner hood 2D and either through the apertures 2| or around the end of the inner hood and then drawn back through the hollow center of the heater element 4 where it is heated and thence recirculated by the fan 3. Screens 39 close the opening through the heater element 4 to prevent any hair from being drawn into the fan 3 by the force of circulating air.

The construction described permits the hood of the hair drying apparatus which comprises the outer hood |5 and inner hood 20 to be revolved so that the bias-cut opening I6 can be turned downwardly as shown in Figure I or upwardly as shown in Figure II with respect to the center line of the device and thus permit the hood to be placed around the head of a person in either of the two positions shown in Figures I and II, or in intermediate positions.

When the hair drying apparatus is employed as illustrated in Figure II with the person whose hair is being dried in a reclining position, it is necessary to provide means for supporting the head in the hood 20 so that air can circulate freely on all sides of the head. This support means consists of a cradle 3| (see also Figure V) which comprises a spider 32 and cushions 33 which may be formed of sponge rubber or other resilient material and which are mounted on the ends of the arms of the spider 32. The spider 32 is mounted for universal adjustment by a ball and socket joint 34, the socket of which is formed in the body of the spider 32 and the ball of which is formed on the end of a stud 35. The stud 35 extends through a slot 36 cut in the inner hood 20, and through a slot 31 cut in the outer hood I5 and has a thumb wheel 38 threaded on its outermost end. The nub of the thumb wheel 38 extends through a plate 39 which is located inside the hood I 5 and is slidable with the thumb wheel 38 serving to close the slot 37 and prevent the escape of air. By loosening the thumb wheel 38 the stud 35 and cradle 3| may be moved and by tightening the thumb wheel 38 they may be secured in the new position. The inside of the outer hood I5 and the outside of the inner hood 20 are coated with insulation 40 to prevent their becoming overheated.

When the person whose hair is to be dried desires to rest in a reclining position such as that shown in Figure II, the cradle 3| is adjusted so,

that the spider 32 ts the head of the person and supports its weight without contact between the head or neck of the person and any portion of the hood 20 or ange I7. Because the cradle 3| is mounted on the universal ball and socket joint 34 the head can be rocked from side to side or nodded slightly without resistance so long as its position on the cradle 3| is not changed and yet air is free to circulate around the head to dry the hair.

Because the entire hair drying apparatus comprising the housing the hood I5 and their contents can be swiveled on the pintle 'I and because the hoods |'5 and 20 can be revolved, the hair drying apparatus is versatile and accommodates itself easily to any relationship between height and position of the person whose hair is being dried and the hood can be extended over the head of such person a sufficient distance to insure a thorough drying much more easily than in any other hair drying apparatus now available.

The embodiment of the invention that has been disclosed may be modied to meet various requirements.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for drying the hair on the head of a person comprising, in combination, a housing containing means for heating and circulating air, a hood rotatably mounted relative to said housing for directing such heated air around the head of the person whose hair is being dried, said hood having an angularly cut-oli end and being rotatable on an axis coaxial with the longitudinal axis of said housing, and means for mounting said housing for angular movement in a vertical plane and for vertical movement, whereby the head of a person may extend within the open end of said hood from different relative positions of said person.

2. In a hair drying device having a hollow housing containing air heating and circulating means,

, in combination, a hood mounted on said housing and located at one end thereof, said hood having a bias-cut opening for receiving the head ofia person and being rotatable relative to said housing on an axis transverse but not perpendicular to the plane 0f the edge of such opening and an adjustable cradle mounted on an inner wall of said hood just within such opening, said cradle comprising a spider-like body having resilient pads on the arms thereof.

JOHN JOSEPH MURPHY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,396,175 Fertig et al Nov. 8, 1927 1,637,488 Knopp Aug. 2, 1927 1,686,631 May Oct. 9, 1928 1,775,704 Suter Sept. 16, 1930 1,967,713 Kelley July 24, 1934 1,994,039 Martin Mar. 12, 1935 2,073,401 Crowley Mar. 9, 1937 2,074,018 Gross Mar. 16, 1937 2,306,053 Gosney et al. Dec. 22, 1942 

